Oldham Athletic Head Coach Dino Maamria is looking forward to his second game in charge as Latics take on Carlisle United on Saturday (3pm).
Maamria made a great start as Head Coach as Oldham beat Morecambe 3-1 on Saturday to record a first league win of the season at Boundary Park.
The Tunisian is into his first full week in charge and he says he is enjoying life at Latics so far.
“It's been very good, it's always easier when you win the first game because it keeps everybody positive and happy.” He said.
“The players can absorb information more when they're in a positive frame of mind, so it's been good.
“I've got to make sure I don't give them too much information too soon, do it bit by bit and change some things over a period of time.
“The biggest asset this team has is the quality in attacking areas and that's probably the hardest thing in football.
“We just want to tweak certain things defensively out of possession and try to improve set pieces.”
It was a much needed three points for the club after the win against Morecambe, but Maamria isn’t getting too ahead of himself going into Saturday.
He believes that the side must now build on this result and tweak a few things in their games just to be more solid as a unit.
“We take it one game at a time, I've been at this level long enough to know that if you turn up and do what you're supposed to do then you win games.” He commented.
“We've got to put our foot on the gas and accelerate, moving forward and have a process on where we improve in certain areas.
“I think the results will look after themselves if we do certain things right.
“I think scorelines sometimes masked a lot of the faults, I look deeper than that and look at the performance first and foremost.
“It's about looking at things with and without the ball and if we do that then we'll be in a great position at the end of the season.
“That's my focus because I know we can go and win a lot of games, but it catches up with you, so we've got to build a foundation to do that.
“We have to be consistent with our training and start building habits, but this group of players have been fantastic so far.
“They absorb the information well, their application is second to none and they're a positive group, so it's a pleasure to be around them.”
Maamria has already brought in a few early changes around the schedules for training, giving his players Monday morning off.
He says it’s something he has done at every club and he believes it will benefit the players in their personal lives.
“The Monday morning off is something I've done at every club I've been at.
“We know footballers travel from everywhere and there's a few foreign lads here, so I think it's important that they can spend some time with their families over the weekend.
“The last thing you need is to be rushing in on a Monday morning, we only have one session on Monday anyway, so I just start it late.
“They miss the traffic and the boys can go home wherever home is for them to spend that time with their family and come back fresh on Monday afternoon.
“I will be making changes bit by bit; I'm looking behind the scenes as well not just on the football pitch.
“I'm looking at every department on how we can improve, so hopefully we'll be able to do that.”
Another thing Maamria is trying to implement is more team bonding exercises within the squad.
He took them bowling on Tuesday afternoon and he believes it will help the players get to know each other a little better off the field.
“I think for me it was to get to know them a little bit and I think it was the first time they've done something like that.
“It's a squad of players who are multi-cultural, from different backgrounds and different countries so it's important to integrate them together.
“They train two hours every day and I think it's not enough to get them all together properly, so I've got to make sure that we do a lot of things off the field together.
“It went down really well and we'll be doing it more in the future.”
Carlisle is usually a tough test if you’re an Oldham Athletic player or supporter with Latics losing their last four games against our Cumbrian opponents.
However, Maamria is confident that his team can go and bring back the three points on Saturday.
“Every time I go there, I win, so I think going to Carlisle will be good this year.
“It's a beautiful pitch this time of the year, big pitch which suits our players and I am really looking forward to it.
“Obviously, they're a good team, they have a good manager and it's always a tough place to go.
“I think we're going at the right time, we're in a brilliant position, so it's a good game to be going into.”
Gary Woods was missing for the Morecambe fixture, but Maamria gave an update on him and the rest of the squad in terms of injuries.
“He's (Woods) back training so hopefully he'll be ok, but that's a decision we'll have to make Saturday in terms of the goalkeeping situation.
“Filipe Morais has picked up a knock, so he's a doubt, but we'll have to wait and see.
“Aside from that, everyone else is ok.”
It will be the first away trip as Oldham Athletic Head Coach for Maamria and with the allocation of 300 almost sold out, he is looking forward to the game.
However, he does hope that a few more supporters will make the trip to support the team.
“I'm looking forward to seeing the support, Carlisle is only two hours away from Oldham, so it's one of the closer ones.”
“I'm looking forward to the atmosphere and hopefully with the performance and result last week will get more fans coming in.
“I plead that they come and support us, and I promise I'll give them a team that they'll be proud of.
“They will always try their best and cover every blade of grass with work rate, endeavour and desire to win a football match.
“I promise them a team that will play with passion and all those things I know Oldham and the North West fans in general expect from their team.”
“I'd like to see more coming backing us and be a part of this journey together.”